[Watch] Shreyas Iyer gets clean bowled after playing a length ball on the wrong line in 1st IND vs SL ODI

Shreyas Iyer's highly-anticipated ODI return was cut short for a run-a-ball 23 against Sri Lanka in the first of the three-match series. The right-hander looked good for his short stay, scoring four boundaries, but missed a nip-backer from pacer Asitha Fernando and lost his off-stump.

The dismissal came on the second ball of the 25th over with India at 132/4, chasing 231. Fernando hit the hard length and made the ball come in with the angle but Shreyas read the line wrong and tried to push it to the off-side off the backfoot, letting the ball sneak in and bowl him.

Watch the video here:

Shreyas came to bat at number five - a position he'd have contended wasn't his usual had the new number four batter Washington Sundar not got out for just 5 (4). He rebuilt the innings well alongside Virat Kohli in their 43-run partnership, showing his class against spin.

His wicket came only a few balls after Kohli got out, similarly against the run of play, with leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga trapping him on the front.

Shreyas should get a decent leeway from the management because of how well he performed at the 2023 World Cup, hitting back-to-back centuries, including a match-winning one in the semi-final against New Zealand. But with Rishabh Pant breathing down his neck on the bench, he'd want to make the remaining two ODIs in the series count.

KL Rahul and Axar Patel get India back into the game

The game looked like slipping away from India after the back-to-back blows. However, another sought-after returnee, KL Rahul and all-rounder Axar Patel took their time and showed compact techniques to ride the tide and take India past 150.

With only Shivam Dube to follow as the recognized batter, they'll have to take India to comfort. Catch all the live-action here.

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